Financial firms can allow employees to work from home: Yonhap

SEOUL -- South Korea's financial authorities said Wednesday that financial companies can allow their ordinary employees to work from home during emergencies amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Financial Services Commission informed the financial companies of its decision earlier this month. The move is designed to ensure financial services are not disrupted in the case of employee self-quarantine over the coronavirus known as COVID-19.

The virus has killed 12 people and infected a total of 1,261 people in South Korea, prompting some firms to shut down their offices and advise their employees to work from home for the next few weeks. Currently, financial companies are required to separate their networks to try to prevent any potential security breaches by hackers.

Still, there is an exception to this separation of networks, taking into account that employees handling computer networks need remote access to their work systems during emergencies. The regulations created a gray area regarding whether ordinary employees of financial companies can access to their companies' networks remotely.
(Yonhap)